Experience in Building Regulatory Framework for the Oversight of Nuclear Power Plants - Pakistan Nuclear Regulatory Authority (PNRA)

Two Decades of Regulatory Oversight Experience: Licensing and Oversight of Seven (7) nuclear power plant units; Licensing of NPP Operating Personnel; Licensing of Design and Manufacturing Organizations; Licensing of diverse types of Radiation Facilities; Training and Capacity building of Regulatory Staff and Stakeholders; Emergency Response Coordination; Environmental Surveillance; International Cooperation. Regulatory Oversight Experience - Some Examples of Safety Improvements: Modification in seismic design of common raft of nuclear island from 0.2 g to 0.3 g by incorporating additional reinforcement (steel rebars) during the construction phase; Inclusion of indications of bypass/inoperable status of all safety system and alarms for engineered safety actuation system in operator workstation; Modification in design to prevent airlock of containment spray and low head safety injection pumps during recirculation phase cooling; Installation of thermal fatigue monitoring system to assess the degradation of safety class piping due to thermal stratification. Challenges: Expansion in the Scope of Regulatory Activities; Building Capacity for Regulating Emerging Technologies; Strengthen Interaction with interested Parties. Way Forward: Perform an effective regulatory oversight to ensure that an acceptable level of safety is maintained by licensed facilities and activities; Strive for continuous improvement monitored through internal audits, self assessment and peer reviews by external organizations; Need to enhance the capacity to keep abreast with the expansion and technological developments; Efforts to be continued for enhancing interaction with stakeholders and international cooperation.